Since it was National Dog Day the other day, I thought this video (link in title) might be a good thing to share and how it can relate to yoga. Our little dog Rocco has epilepsy and unfortunately his condition has progressed to a point that his daily dose of all of the medicines is the same as a horse our vet told us. And his physiology keeps adapting to it so seizures still happen from time to time.

There have been so many late nights where I have stayed up with him when he is having a rough time, and usually I end up keeping him company on the floor.

When he needs an extra dose of a medication because of a series of seizures two things happen: he gets really hungry; and he stumbles around like he’s drunk. His balance is off, but he just keeps trying to stay up so he can eat more. However, he has great concentration and focus even when he is so medicated.

One of the best things I have found to support him when he has the extra medicine is a yoga mat. On a hardwood floor his paws slip, and it makes it harder for him to stand. Plus, you might notice he has a subluxation of knee (a really crooked leg) or on a more positive note a very “flexible knee” for dog yoga. Ok, it’s a stretch. And that was 2 bad yoga jokes.

Talking to him the other night on the floor, I started filming him and came up with some theories that maybe you can use for your own practice:

1) It’s always good to hydrate before your class.

2) You can start focusing on a posture or what ever your doing, but it’s important to breathe.

3) Sometimes you might lose your balance or fall down, but you can always get back on your mat.

4) Your mat can be in a studio or on a kitchen floor.

5) And you can try again with more focus. It can be a bowl of food or a posture, but at least he didn’t give up and neither should you.